Steady flow through a realistic human upper airway geometry

Abstract

Abstract Air flow through a human upper airway (central part) has been carried out using a realistic geometry. In addition to explaining the anatomy, problems and importance of patient‐specific study of human upper airways, this article also presents some qualitative and quantitative simulation results. As expected, the shear and pressure forces are large in the oropharynx and laryngopharynx, where the flow passage is narrow. This clearly indicates that these locations should be the focus of any study aimed at understanding the human upper airway collapse in a patient‐specific manner. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.